Indian soldiers battle Kashmir rebels, one killed

Indian troops on Sunday were battling with gunmen in Kashmir with one suspected rebel killed, the army said, the latest violence in the long-running insurgency in the disputed Muslim-majority territory. Police said two separate gunfights were taking place in the Himalayan region, with fighting reported in both the Zabarwan and Baramulla areas.

"One terrorist has been neutralised by the security forces", the army's Chinar Corps said, a term they use indicating a gunman had been killed. Kashmir has been divided between nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan since their partition at the chaotic end of British rule in 1947, and both countries claim the territory in full.

India has at least 500,000 troops deployed in Kashmir in a bid to end a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of civilians, soldiers and rebels since 1989. Rebel groups demand either independence or its merger with Pakistan. New Delhi regularly blames Pakistan for arming militants and helping them launch attacks, an allegation Islamabad denies.

Last week, an attacker hurled a grenade at a busy market in the main city of Srinagar, wounding 12 people. Attacks since October have included gunmen launching an ambush on an army convoy, as well as firing on a construction camp, killing seven people.

On Wednesday, Kashmir's newly-elected regional assembly passed a resolution demanding New Delhi restore the territory's partial autonomy, cancelled in 2019 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist government.